Reflecting
by CanadianStinbatskys
Summary: On the night before the wedding Barney and Robin reflect about the past, present and future. They're both worried about the wedding and how it will go so they think about where they once were and where they are heading in their lives. 2 chapter story contains some slight spoilers for the next epiode
1. Barney reflects

So, this is a two part sort of short one shot. I wanted to write something because I'm bored and I thought this would be a nice one shot idea. Barney & Robin reflect about the past, present and future and find themselves at a place where both are okay with getting married in just a few hours. I thought that making this a two chapter fic would be a good way to ease my mind on what happens on the night before the wedding and where Barney went to.

Slight spoilers for the next episode.

Please read and review I love to see nice comments.

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On the night before the wedding Barney was so nervous. Thoughts about tomorrow are rushing through his mind and a lot of it is worry. He's worried about how the wedding will go, he worries about himself freaking out before even walking down the isle. He worries that the future is near and wonders how things will be, being almost married has made him think about his past and his relationship with Robin. God, the night he proposed he was nervous, in fact he checked his phone almost ever minute hoping that his plan was working out and he'd get to propose like he planned of doing for weeks.

It all hits him the night before the wedding as he lies in the cot in Ted's room. His thoughts go from happiness, joy, and excitement to worried, scared and as he worries about tomorrow he gets so terrified of what's to come that he empties the bottle of Glen MaCenna holding it to his test with nervous hands and nervous thoughts on his mind. He can't stay here any longer, he has to get out of this room because it feels like he's locked in a cage (like the ring bear is right now) and all he can think about is escaping this cage that is easily becoming claustrophobic too. He sits up in bed to make sure Ted isn't around "good" he says to himself and gets up out of the cot and leaves the room.

He doesn't have any idea of where he wants to go. He knows he can't leave because he's the one getting married but he knows he can't stay cooped up in a room with worried thoughts playing with him mind. So, he ends up going to his room, his and Robin's room. He just wants to see her without actually having her notice him. He slowly cracks the door open, he still had his key on him when he tried to go to sleep and didn't take it out of his pocket. He holds the door slightly open and takes a peek inside the room hoping Robin was asleep. Luckily, for him she was. He smiles to himself thanking god that she doesn't know he's there. She is sleeping on her side, facing the opposite side of the room so is she really is asleep she doesn't know he's standing there at the door watching her sleep.

He takes another minute just to look at her sleeping and make sure she's safe before exiting the room and closing the door quietly behind him. Barney doesn't know where to go, leaving isn't an option and he has no idea what to do in a hotel at night time. So, he decides to go back to the bar. He knows he can't drink anymore cause it would just give him the worst hangover the night before he was about to get married. But, he knew that the bar was open 24/7 so he ends up sitting and talking to Linus the bar tender and manager of the bar area of the hotel.

"Hey." Barney says as he sits down at the bar wondering if another drink was risky for him to have.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Linus asks wondering was Barney was down at the bar this late at night.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. I have a lot on my mind." He tells him with a tone that Linus saw right away. It's the tone of the voice that says that you're worried or scared about something and he's heard that voice many times over the years of working for this hotel.

"I get it, getting married is the most terrifying thing ever. I've seen many people over the years come here to talk to me about their worries and each time I tell them this." Linus was the most easy person to talk to because he doesn't judge you and isn't the type to push you into anything you don't want to do. So, he tells Barney this...

"I know how scary it is to be getting married. Every groom and bride get this way the night before and right before a wedding. But, the best thing in the world is knowing that you are going to spend the rest of your life with the person you love more than anything. I know being nervous and concerned is normal for anyone about to make a huge commitment to someone but when you see that person down that isle you realize that, she is all you want and need out of life." Linus finish as he gently puts a glass he was cleaning dry into a tray of other glasses and smiled lightly at Barney who was listening intently to what he was saying to him.

"I get that, I'm just so nervous about tomorrow and what's going to happen." Barney says almost getting choked up on his words.

"I know!" Linus says and turns around to fix some bottles of wine that were out of order.

Barney stays at the bar for another 10 minutes before getting up and leaving. He decides to go outside, fresh air would be good for him because it could ease his mind on what he's been thinking for hours during this day and night before the wedding.

He loves Robin, that's just was never a question or concern but the thought of what could happen in the future and what did happen in the past is what worries him the most. Barney steps outside in front of the hotel, it was a really nice cool night with a slight breeze in the air. He always liked these types of nights especially when it's close to summer that it was really nice for his thought process.

He doesn't do this a lot but he found himself sitting on a nice lounge swing that was on the side of the hotel. He sits down and starts to pray to himself. "God, I know I don't speak to you a lot manly because I've been so happy lately that I didn't need to talk to you. But, now. I'm talking to you because I am so worried about tomorrow and for the future. I want tomorrow to be perfect, I don't want this wedding to go wrong it must go smoothly manly for Robin's sake but also my nerves. I want this wedding to be the most awesome wedding ever cause it would mean the world to Robin. She deserves to have the wedding of her dreams, I don't care about me I care about her. She's the only thing I care most about and I want her to be happy on our wedding day. So, please God. Make this day the best day in Robin's life and don't let anything go wrong." He finishes the prayer and smiles lightly to himself.

Barney sits on the swing for a little while reflecting on the past, present and future. He doesn't know how tomorrow will go or even the tomorrow's after that but he does know that the future with Robin. Being with her for the rest of his life is all he's ever wanted and never wanted anything else in his life. She's his everything and he hopes that nothing goes wrong for her tomorrow cause that would break his heart.

He gets up and walks back around to the front of the hotel where he finds Ted looking around oddly.

"Ted, what are you doing out here?" Barney asks wondering why he's outside so late.

"I was looking for you. I went back inside the room and you were missing so I got worried." Ted tells him relieved that Barney was still there at the hotel and didn't just leave the night before the wedding.

"Oh, I was nervous. Well, terrified about tomorrow so I came downstairs and sat at the bar for a while. I chatted with Linus and then headed outside for some fresh air." Barney tells him hoping that Ted wasn't going to say anything and would leave the conversation at that. But, Ted didn't...

"Okay, but don't ever do that again I was worried sick about what would happen to you." Barney starts to walk back inside the hotel and Ted followed him and started ranting about him not being in the room.

"I'm sorry I left but I just was scared okay. I won't leave again." Barney tells him inside the lobby of the hotel.

"Good, cause I don't want the groom to be missing in the morning of his wedding day." The concern on Ted's voice was enough for Barney to say. "I'm not going to go missing. I won't do that to Robin." And that was it, Barney walked up stairs back to Ted's room and went to sleep cause he really can't be tired on the day of his wedding.


	2. Robin reflects

Now that I know what's going to happen in Monday's episode I am now concerned about Barney. So, I decided to extend this to a couple more chapters because I fear that Barney is just too drunk to know what he's really doing or saying.

This chapter is Robin's reflection.

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When Robin enters her room she is exhausted from the days events. The day started out good but then she found out that her mother wasn't going to be at her wedding. This made everything seem like a sad novel where the girl hopes to see her mother again before getting married. She couldn't stop crying, the tears subsided after Barney said that he ran into this girl who helped him stop playing around and get her back. That was sweet, he was sweet for doing this to win her back. Just knowing that he's changed so much just for her is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for her. But, now that her mother isn't going to be here to witness her own daughter get married is still on her mind along with other things.

Robin kicks off her shoes and heads towards the bathroom where she takes her dress off and puts something more comfortable on. She washes up and then goes to the bed. She sits quietly on the bed thinking to herself. In just 16 hours she would be married. Married... She couldn't believe she was about to get married after all the years of denying herself about marriage and forbidding it, telling herself she never wanted to get married cause she wanted to focus on her career rather than be bothered with her love life. But, that all changed in the last year. Being alone was slowly making her lonely and then she met Nick and she wasn't so lonely. She was just not happy. Happiness over the years caused her the most pain, having a good job is fine and all but she wasn't happy. Nick was nice but he was stupid and even though the sex was fantastic he just didn't do it for her. Then, Barney. She thinks looking at the ring on her finger. He was always on her mind, ever since his speech to her she couldn't get him off her mind. Then, he proposed, it was everything she has ever wanted. Being with Barney made her happy and that what's made her feel whole again.

As she sits on the bed thinking about her life and where it was and where it's heading made her realize that tomorrow is the beginning of her new life. She slowly gets under the covers and turns off the light, smiling to herself about how happy she is. But, as she laid in bed thinking about tomorrow the worries and jitters start to kick in and she finds herself not able to fall asleep. She wonders how Barney's doing and how tomorrow's wedding will go. She worries about what Barney's thinking right now and hopes he's asleep because she doesn't want him to worry about anything.

With her eyes still open she lays there nervous about what will happen tomorrow and where her life is heading in the next few hours. Every worry, every fear, every happy thought is causing her to stay awake so tries to lay on her side to see if she can sleep that way better. As she lies there, she hears something in the room, a noise she hoped it wasn't coming from her room. But, she still lies there in the bed. The door the was open a crack was closed and on the other side Barney hoped that Robin didn't hear him.

Robin couldn't sleep, a lot was on her mind so she gets up puts on a sweater and jeans with a pair of flip flops and goes outside taking her bedroom key with her. She walks downstairs hoping the bar was still open cause she needs something to get her to sleep and alcohol would make her sleep. She remembers that the bar is open 24/7 so she goes in and sits down asking Linus to pour her something strong. Robin's mind starts to wander, thinking about what happened in the last two days and thinking about her wedding that is only a few hours away. She starts drinking but it wasn't enough to calm her nerves so she gets up and leaves.

Heading outside, it was cool night and she liked the breeze coming in from the ocean it made her feel a bit better. She starts to walk from the hotel to the beach and even with the cool air and the smell of the water coming from the beach she still couldn't get her mind off of what she's been thinking and nervous about.

She walks over to the beach and down to the water with thoughts of tomorrow playing across her mind. In just a few hours she was going to be married. Married to the love of her life, that part wasn't scary to her. The fact that she doesn't have any doubts about how much she loves Barney is good to ease her mind slightly. But, not completely because she can't help but worry about this wedding and about the future.

When she walks down the beach she sees Ted coming towards her running in a hurry. "Ted" She says once she and Ted are near each other. "What are you doing here?" She asks him wonder why he's up at this late hour of the evening.

"I" He stops brotherly wondering if he should tell Robin about Barney being missing. "I was looking for Barney." He says hoping it doesn't freak Robin out.

"Barney? Why are you looking for Barney?" Robin asks with a concerned look on her face.

"Well, I was out on the patio to get some fresh air and when I went back inside the room he was missing." He tells her, seeing her face go from concerned to panic in a minute.

"Missing? You mean Barney isn't with you, where did he go?" Robin asks with worry in her voice hoping Barney wasn't doing anything too bad.

"No, as I said I came back into the room and he was gone with a bottle of scotch lying on the cot he's sleeping on." This worries Robin more. She couldn't believe Barney is gone when she thought he was fine after she last saw him, she thought he was fine.

"We should go look for him." Robin says wondering where she can look first.

They walk down the beach trying to find Barney but he is no where in sight so they decide to see if he's at a beach house that is near by but he wasn't there either. They head back to the beach and ends up talking about Ted's relationships. They talk till the sun starts to peek through the dark sky. When the sun rises they stay sitting on the sand taking in the beautiful morning at the beach. But, there's one thing Robin didn't ask him and that is why he and Victoria broke up.

"So, I didn't ask you but why did you and Victoria break up?" She asks wondering why they broke up because she still doesn't know the real reason why they broke up.

Ted wanted to not say anything because it would just not be a good time. But, he does tell her what happened.

"We broke up because she asked me to stop being friends with you and I couldn't do that." He tells her, Robin's mood and face changed from curious to a 'What?' kind of face.

"Are you serious?" She asks shocked at this for being a reason why he and Victoria broke up.

"Yes, she wanted me to stop seeing you because of what happened the last time we broke up." Ted tells her feeling weird about this coming out just hours before she would be getting married.

"Oh." Robin doesn't know what to say or how to react to this so she simply gets up from the sand and brushes the sand off her jeans. Ted gets up as well.

Their was silence for a few minutes before Ted says. "I know this is not the best time for you to find out about this. But, you wanted to know." He really didn't want this to come out now when it wasn't a good time to be talking about this when she is about to get married.

Robin still doesn't say anything she doesn't know what to say to this knowledge so instead of saying anything she simply says. "I have to go." She shakes Ted's hand awkwardly and walks away back to the hotel. She had wanted to yell at him, tell him that bringing this up on the day of her wedding was the worst time to do that. But, she didn't and ended up back at the hotel lobby.


End file.
